Hamas vows '100 unique retaliations'

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Palestinians clogged the streets of Gaza City on Sunday chanting "Revenge! Revenge!" at the funeral of Abdel Aziz Rantisi, the Hamas leader slain by an Israeli rocket attack. Masked gunmen filled the humid air with bursts of gunfire. Hamas, the most militant Palestinian faction, said Israel should expect "100 unique retaliations."

The funeral cortege stretched for blocks, and mourners pushed and shoved as they attempted to touch the lacerated and burned face of Rantisi, whose body was carried on a stretcher, wrapped in a green Hamas flag.

Despite the mourners' ominous message, Israel has significantly weakened Hamas over the past two years, and it is not clear whether Hamas can deliver on its pledge. Previous Israeli attacks on Hamas leaders have been followed by suicide bombings.

Israel's killing of Rantisi in a Saturday night missile strike, and a similar attack that took the life of the Hamas founder, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, on March 22, are the two most dramatic examples of the sustained Israeli offensive against the group. While the Israeli military actions have generated retaliatory bombings in the past, the overall number of Palestinian attacks has dropped substantially since peaking in the spring of 2002.

The two recent killings have given Hamas and the other Palestinians a powerful motivation to attack, and the coming weeks should indicate the residual strength of Hamas and the ability of the Israeli security forces to thwart the group.

Almost a month ago, Rantisi spoke at rallies after Yassin's death and promised a stepped-up bombing campaign. But the only Palestinian bombing since then was a suicide attack on Saturday afternoon at an industrial park on the northern edge of Gaza that killed an Israeli border policeman and wounded three security workers.

Even that attack, claimed by Hamas and Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, another militant Palestinian group, appeared to reflect the present limitations. Israel's web of restrictions has made it increasingly difficult for the groups to sneak bombers into Israeli cities, and most of the recent attacks have been on a relatively small scale and limited largely to the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

"There is no doubt that the assassinations of Rantisi and Sheik Yassin are losses to the Hamas movement," Ahmed Baher, another Hamas leader in Gaza, said at Sunday's funeral, which drew tens of thousands of mourners. "But the response will come at a suitable time. Holy war will continue. All we need is patience."